


Stigmata

by Cacaxa



Category: Good Omens (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2019-09-15
Packaged: 2020-10-19 03:56:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20650805
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cacaxa/pseuds/Cacaxa
Summary: Even thousands of years later, the scars of the Fall linger.





	Stigmata

It was midnight in the Downtown Crossing district of Boston, the nightlife bustling as usual. The Stigmata (which had the reputation of being the finest eatery in the area) had just ceased operation for the evening, its owner- a tall, poised, stern-looking man in his late thirties, dressed sharply, grey stripes already running through his black hair- being the last to leave.

As he was about to begin locking up behind him, white-gloves hands reaching for the keys, a sound caught his attention; a little rat slipping past his feet and through the door, before taking the shape of a young, short, rodent-like woman that didn’t look at all pleased.

”Bethesda, is something wrong?” She looked to him but turned away just as quickly.

“It’s nothing.”

”It’s not ‘nothing’ when you’re so obviously _moping.”_

”I’m _fine,_ Nyx,” She answered curtly, ”It’s just…” she sighed, running a hand through her short brown hair. “Some jackass decided to be a smart aleck about my face.”

It’d just been a small interaction, to be honest- she’d been happily walking down the street when she’d heard the words _“Get a load of **that!”**_ from someone passing her. She’d never got the chance to respond, but the look he’d given his two friends spoke volumes:

_ She’s an ugly freak, right? _

”After millennia to get used to it?” He asked.

“You don’t know what it’s_ like!”_ Bethesda protested, gesturing wildly in the air. ”Everyone looks at me like I belong in a sideshow, on display- which, by the way, wasn’t fun at all when I got stuck being in that circus during the Depression!” She sat herself down in a chair with a broad _thump_. “At least no one says anything about _your_ face!”

“Oh, don’t I?” Naharnyx snapped back, a harsh, bitter bark of a laugh escaping. “Beth, I used to crawl around the alleys and gutters of this city like you and every other homeless sob on the street today. The glares, the sneers, the snide remarks? I dealt with _all_ of that.” He took a deep breath, adjusting his glasses and calming himself enough to continue. “I can get by somewhat easier than you, sure, but don’t forget that you’re not the only one who was branded so _blatantly_ by their Fall.”

Naharnyx looked to her, his eyes searching in a silent question that he had to decide the answer to. The muscles of his face tensed, jaw clenched as he took a deep breath, peeled the gloves from his fingertips, and rolled up his sleeves.

Ever since he’d started wearing them, finally managed to establish a steady life for himself, he’d made sure that no mortal knew what lay beneath the thin white fabric: splotched, inky black skin, a Rorschach test trailing halfway up his forearms.

“I don’t dress this way because it’s _fashionable,”_ he spoke tersely. ”I have to hide what I am. I’m _always_ on my guard. In the old days, I’d be spat on - or worse- if I approached someone at all.”

He touched the deep, dark circles under his eyes and sighed. “Do you really think it’s_ easy?”_ he asked, voice strained and worn. “When people see someone walking around with a face like mine, it’s obvious they aren’t just sleep-deprived. If they saw these- ” he looked to his hands again, ”Well, they wouldn’t stop to ask if it’s some kind of ailment. They’d just see someone different from them. Stained. _Unclean.” _

Bethesda’s throat tightened. “I…I never knew you _felt_ like this,” she finally said, shame for her outburst apparent. “You never seemed to have a problem with it before.”

He shrugged, crossing his arms as he leaned against a nearby wall. “I don’t like to let things show. Emotions are…messy. Better to shut them up in a lead safe than let them run amuck.”

”I wish I could.”

She looked to the window, staring at the reflection of herself before speaking again.

”Nyx…She made everything I’m not. I’m not supposed to be like this,” she hissed, turning away, “Not this- this _joke_ of a body.”

“Yeah, well, obviously _She_ felt differently.” Nyx moved to kneel in front of her. “But you’ve done fine for yourself regardless. It was hard in the early days, but where we are now compared to where we were? I don’t know. Perhaps I don’t regret it. “

He paused, remembering the day he’d tasted his own forbidden fruit. How perfectly _delicious_ it’d been, how he’d savored it before he’d been caught committing a sin he’d never even known _was_ a sin. The pain, the horror of waking to find his hands carried the mark of his theft-

Shaking his head slightly, he collected his thoughts and continued. “Sometimes I like to think that every day I can make this life worth my time is another itch that gets under Her skin.” He mused, casually flipping off the sky for a moment.

Bethesda couldn’t stifle the laugh that bubbled forth. “If She actually _has_ any, you mean.”

Naharnyx laughed as well, looking out to the sky, feeling a pang of sadness for the briefest of moments. “Yeah, She obviously doesn’t want anything She finds unnecessary. Wouldn’t be surprised if She found all this corporeal body stuff stifling.”

”What, like most of everyone Downstairs?” It was a fact most demons preferred to stay sequestered in the dank, cramped domains of Hell, not bothering to rise above save for business.

“Hmm. No, I think they’re mostly just unconcerned with mortal stuff in general. For Her, I think it’s probably something more to do with…efficiency? Who can really tell with Her. She’s always been a horribly stuffy prude.”

”Never answers anything, either.”

Naharnyx nodded, expression softening as he stood up and put a hand on Bethesda’s shoulder. “But seriously, though- don’t let human’s stuffy standards get to you. It’s not worth the effort. And besides, you’re perfect already.”


End file.
